Please note that this is an overdue event

Chinese Opera Festival 2023: The Art of Wusheng Roles in Cantonese Opera

Tickets
Contacts

A star-studded cast brings to life the beloved wusheng role with four enthralling shows

With its complex routines and focus on powerful singing, the wusheng (martial male) is an important role in Cantonese operas. This July, West Kowloon Cultural District and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department celebrate this beloved role with four shows. Renowned wusheng actor Liu Kwok-sum serves as the artistic director of the showcase, which also features a star-studded cast, including Lee Lung, Wan Fai-yin, Lui Hung-kwong, Chan Ka-ming and Yuen Siu-fai.

Most wusheng roles in Cantonese Opera are middle-aged or old characters, distinguished by the actors wearing a long beard – xu in pinyin – hence they are also known as xusheng (bearded male). In the early days of Cantonese opera, the wusheng was an important lead performer (known as “the pillar”) of the opera troupe. Wusheng roles call for much emphasis on singing, delivery of lines, stylised movements and eye expressions, all of which require solid acting skills. For example, beard manoeuvring skills (rankougong) are used in the rendering of many wusheng characters to express emotions. In the traditional ritual play Prime Minister of Six States, the carriage riding skill of the character Gongsun Yan is among the showstoppers of the play. Other than acting skills, wusheng roles also put much emphasis on sonorous and powerful delivery of spoken lines. As for singing, robust vocalisation styles called baqiang (also known as dahou) and roudaizuo are used to show how the character is a man who has seen the ways of the world, thus injecting into the character a unique depth in the performance.

Hong Kong audiences will have the chance to catch all these in action with the six classics featured in the showcase. The chariot riding routine in Prime Minister of Six States has been passed down from master Lan Chi-pak. Lan also arranged the moves in two acts of Death of a Loyal Warrior. Other highlights of the programme include “Burying the Horse” from Contention for the Seal, which has rarely been staged in the last 20 years. Meanwhile “Three Hand Claps to Sever Blood Ties” from Wang Baochuan, “The Night Trial” from Judge Bao’s Night Trial of Guo Huai and “Barging into the Yamen” from The Impeachment of Yan Song offer the audience an excellent opportunity to see the intricate artistry of wusheng characterisation in Cantonese Opera.

Artistic Team: